Kevin could sense Billy’s growing impatience. He twirled the ball between his palms again, then started a standing dribble. Billy was up on him, five to four, in slam dunks. He really didn’t want to miss this next shot.
“Come on, already.” Billy scuffed the driveway, impatient with Kevin’s slow build up.
“Don’t distract me.” Kevin’s eye went from the basketball hoop, mounted on the front of the garage, to the chalk mark on the pavement about six feet in front of the basket. The mark was the slam part of the slam dunk – the spot they aimed for when driving the ball as hard as they could into the ground. At just over four feet tall each, neither one of them actually stood a chance of pulling off a real slam dunk. Not like Billy’s older brother, Terrance, who played basketball at the Horace B. Tooley Middle School.
In their version of slam dunk they slammed the ball into the ground in hopes it would dunk through the hoop on the rebound. After weeks of practice they were actually getting pretty good at it. Not that they would ever let Terrance see them do it this way. They’d never hear the end of it.
Kevin began dribbling a little faster, and fixed his gaze on the chalk mark. Then, in a sudden burst of speed, he dashed forward. Just in front of the chalk mark he stutter-stepped and lept into the air, while arcing the ball in a tremendous right-handed roundhouse. As he landed he slammed the ball as hard as he could onto the chalk mark.
“Nice one!” Billy called out from behind.
The ball bounced off the concrete with a resounding ping and sailed into the air in a high arc. Kevin froze and watched as the ball came sailing down, straight for the hoop. He held his breath.
The ball hit the back of the rim and careened back up into the air, this time away from the garage. Kevin watched in dismay as the ball dropped, seemingly in slow motion, straight for the hood of his mom’s new Flex. He heard a strangled cry from Billy just as it hit the hood, dead center.
Kevin shot a glance towards the house before bolting for the neighbor’s yard. Billy seemed rooted to the spot, until the ball came down for the second impact, this time off the windshield, which caused the ball to bounce back towards the garage. He was on Kevin’s heels before the ball hit the garage door with a loud bang. They both dove behind Mister Jenner’s hydrangeas where they collapsed, breathing heavily.
“We’re dead,” Kevin moaned.
“Maybe she won’t notice?”
Kevin shot Billy a scathing look. “She’s going to kill me. Why did she have to park there, anyway?” They poked their heads up over the shrubs to see if anyone had yet come to the door. “Man, do we ever need a miracle.”
There was a loud hiss and a great crash. The front of the Flex blew up, or more accurately, imploded. Bits of metal and glass scattered around the vehicle. A big piece of metal whizzed through the hydrangeas, passing right between both boys. Billy looked at Kevin in disbelief.
“I didn’t hit it that hard!” Kevin protested.
#
Kevin sat on the family room floor, clutching the basketball to his chest. He watched as the reporter talked to Billy about what happened. “This easily could have turned out much worse,” the reporter said, squaring up to the camera. “Fortunately, the two boys had quit playing basketball and wandered next door just moments before the meteor struck. One hates to think what might have happened if they had continued playing. On the positive side, the boys have become something of neighborhood celebrities. Back to you, Karen.”
Kevin’s mom leaned forward and wrapped him in a desperate hug.
-
©2010 by J. M. Strother, all rights reserved.
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Great story! Totally took me in a direction I was not expecting.
GOODNESS! That was some twist..
Loved it. Better to be wrapped in a mom’s desperate hug than (insert punishment)!
Terrific, Jon.
Wow, didn’t see that coming. Nice job!!
Hehe. Nice. I’d have made it frozen pee from an airplane toilet, but I tend to lavatorial humour.
“He was on Kevin’s *heals* ” – ahem.
Thanks. I fixed it. That one’s been know to trip me up before. :p
~jon
Hee hee…meteor. Fun, Jon!
Jon,
Well told. Had me into it. . . I felt bad for the kid for a second!
Jim
Holy cow — I’m thinking — that was one helluva toss!
This year, on MLK weekend, we were fortunate to witness a meteor streak through the earth’s atmosphere. An amazing ball of fire with an iridescent tail. It landed last than 100 miles from our house, in a doctor’s office. One of those moments never forgotten.
Nice to see you here early ;^)
Peace, Linda
Thanks. It felt great to be early, and to have something fresh for a change. I’ve seen my share of meteors, but never up close like Kevin and Billy.
~jon
Wow, needing a miracle to get out of trouble actually worked.
Didn’t see that coming.
Fun read!
Wonderful little tale. At least the boys knew they were getting off a little easier this one time.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by J. M. Strother, Laura Eno, Christina Vincent, Sam, Jim Wisneski and others. Jim Wisneski said: RT @jmstro: It's March Madness, baby. I have a little b-ball tale for your enjoyment. Slam Dunk: http://bit.ly/dCvaCR, my #fridayflash. [...]
Aw I thought this was going to be a trenchant critique of the quality of American car manufacture! Nice twist at the end. The notion of them slam dunking by rebound off the ground is hilarious. There’s a metaphor about life in that one notion for us all!
Marc Nash
This made me laugh! Great story. Good action and it kept me reading, and I certainly didn’t expect that twist!
Nice twist! Vivid memories of childhood… sans that particular ending. I was there hiding with them, my heart pounding with eminent discovery.
I can’t imagine how they explained it before they learned the truth.
Wow, they really lucked out in more than one way; didn’t they? Nice writing.
Loved it, Jon! Wish miracles came that quickly in real life.
Carol
Great way to get out of BIG trouble. Neat twist…
Now THAT was a twist ending. I had visions of the Mom being targeted for carbomb assassination, or something.
Great tale, Jon.
This reminded me of that Calvin and Hobbes strip when Calvin says “There’s no problem so awful that you can’t add some guilt to it and make it even worse!” These boys lucked out, in more ways than one. Great turn of events.
I LOVED that. Miracle do happen.
Excellent miracle!! Like Tony I was leaning towards an assassination attempt via car bomb so the meteor was a great surprise
I remember those days (although it was a soccer ball in my case – I didn’t get bailed out by a meteor, but I did get away with it!)
I will never have this kind of luck. The meteor will find me in the bushes.
Fun read, enjoyed it.
I thought it was going to be some sort of defect in the car where a small impact destroyed it. Meteors are much cooler. Well told!
Oh I love it when stuff like that happens. I had the same reactions as Eric.
[...] Strother’s “Slam Dunk”… It’s March Madness, baby, and that means [...]